The Rare Disease Action Forum has published a position paper in relation to the consultation organized by the Federal Office of Public Health on the revision of the Health Insurance Ordinance (KVV/OAMal) and the Health Benefits Ordinance (KLV/OPAS).

In its position paper, the RDAF emphasized that Art. 71a-d KVV/OAMal is of particular importance for patients with rare diseases, as it was created to facilitate access to treatments that are not available or reimbursed in Switzerland. The RDAF is convinced that this legally anchored right to high-quality healthcare for all insured persons is fundamental and must not be changed for the worse.

The RDAF rejects the proposed amendments in their current form, especially the changes to Art. 71a-d KVV/OAMal, as they i) would endanger access to innovative medicines, ii) are not deemed suitable to achieve the goals of the revision, and iii) would go counteract the Swiss national rare disease policy.

The RDAF considers the following provisions as particularly problematic:

• The rejection of a separate data basis for rare diseases,
• The use of OLUtool, which does not consider the special features of rare diseases, when assessing medicines for reimbursement in individual cases,
• The possibility for insurers to influence the benefit category and thus the minimum price reductions.

Click here for the RDAF position.